17 year old at my work keeps flirting with me and making comments to others that she thinks I'm cute; how to make her stop without making it awkward?

[Anonymous]

So I'm 22 and there's this 17 year old girl at my work that keeps trying to flirt with me. And apparently she has talked to others about thinking I'm cute. Obviously I'm not going to be doing anything with her since she's a kid and I'm an adult. How do I let her down without it escalating since again she's a co-worker?

Updates

+1 y

Anyone else have any suggestions?

[WillowTree]

Depends on what approach you want to take. You can be "casually direct" and tell her that you don't want other employees getting the wrong idea and ask her to cool it (not those exact words but the same message).

You could be "legally direct" and tell your boss that you're uncomfortable with what she's been saying/doing, though that would put her in the yellow with people at work and she'd likely instantly hate you, if you care at all about that.

You could be indirect by talking about other women in your life in front of her. Talk about another girl you're trying to hookup with or invent conversations you've had with the fake girl. You could talk about another female friend and mislead her into thinking that's someone you're interested in.

You could orchestrate a conversation with a friend with her nearby where she can hear and talk about what kind of women you like that don't fit her description at all with an emphasis on age.

You could talk down to her like a kid sister or make comments in conversations like "it's different when you're my age..." or "when you're old enough you'll understand..." or "well you're still a kid so..." and stuff like that to make her see that you view her has a child and not a grown woman. Something that places her completely out of your spectrum of date-able candidates.

Avoid looking at her or talking to her alone or making gestures outside of the professional atmosphere. If you have to, make it entirely work related. Dunno man, good luck.

[TheButterfly]

I was the 17yr old to my 22yr old manager... damn.

[Asker]

What ended up happening?

[TheButterfly]

I never tried to engage in anything. I told one person I though he was cute. He would go out of his way to flirt with me and help me to the point of my coworkers noticed it and made fun of him. We barely talked to each other for a few weeks after. After the awkwardness ended he did the same thing he used to and was hot and cold with me even though he treated me way better than eveyone else who worked there and requested me for all his shifts. I ended up quiting for other reasons. I text him and asked if maybe we could still be friends and he basically just said that he was disappointed in me for quitting and that it is "good" I considered him a friend. He still works there but we haven't talked since then.